Cold – Snow Will Affect Missoula Area This Week [YouTube]
The National Weather Service in Missoula has issued a winter weather advisory for snow, blowing snow and cold wind chills from 2 pm Monday to 11 am Tuesday.
Meteorologist Lance Vandenboogart said the system will be moving into western Montana on Monday afternoon.
"We're looking for about two to four inches of snow to come in with the system that is moving into the area on Monday," Vandenboogart said. "The band of precipitation will be moving through the Missoula and Bitterroot areas late Monday through Tuesday afternoon."
Vandenboogart said higher snow amounts are expected for the mountain passes.
"For the mountains, it could be quite a bit more than that," he said. "It could be from the four to eight inch range in the Bitterroots and Sapphire Mountains. The cold air is going to follow the snowfall. We're expecting lows in the single digits Monday night into Tuesday and again on Tuesday night, with a bit of a warm-up back into the mid 20's by Thursday."
Vandenboogart said the gusty winds could cause blowing and drifting snow in areas like the Hellgate Canyon, and that wind chill factors could reach from five below to fifteen degrees below zero starting on Monday evening.
All locations in the Bitterroot and Missoula Valleys will be affected by the system, according to the National Weather Service.